Do you leave Xmas lights on all night?

[janinegirly]

I''m just curious why you do if so, or if this is what most people do?

I always turn all our lights off at the end of the night. I can see leaving one light on, but our neighbor typically leaves their house lit up and now that it''s Xmas this involves Xmas lights on top of that including life size figuerines on their lawn. Our town and street is pretty conservative. Usually it''s a wreath on the door and maybe some white lights.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Are you talking about interior or exterior lights? For both I turn mine off. I can''t afford to pay the electric bill to have them going all night. I can see why they would, they want everyone to see them and it''s best to see them at night. I always always always shut off the lights inside. Christmas trees are one of the leading causes of house fires in the Nation. I work for the National Fire Protection Association, so I would be really embarrassed to have my house burn down because of them.

 

[Ara Ann]

We unplug ours, both in and outside, when we go to bed...but I keep my Christmas tree lights on during the day (as long as I am home)....I love how the tree looks with the lights on, day or night! But we have an artificial tree, I wouldn''t be able to do that with a real one.

Some of our neighbors leave their outside lights on all night too. I may do that, like on Christmas Eve, but not all month long!


There is the most gorgeous huge GORGEOUS Victorian house/mansion, in our downtown, that is lit up to perfection...every tree and bush is lit, all along both sides of the house (a corner lot), lighted garland, candles in every window, even on the third floor. I drive past it every morning on the way to my son''s school. I know they must leave them on all night because it''s still lit up at 7:00 a.m. ...I don''t want to even imagine what their electric bill will be next month!

 

[janinegirly]

This is both inside and outside--inside is on the windows, cannot actually see tree from outside.

It''s the outside that bothers me, it lights up the side of our house. Like I said they also keep their outdoor lights on all year/night long as well. I know must turn them off for financial reasons, but to me it''s a courtesy as well when houses are in close proximity. Do we need to see their lights at 2am?

 

[stephbolt]

We have ours on a timer and they are on from 5:30 to midnight. Indoor lights (tree) are on from when we get home from work until we go to bed. I haven''t paid a ton of attention to what our neighbors do, might have to keep an eye on that...

 

[kama_s]

We turn ours on when the sun sets and off before we go to bed. We don''t pay for electricity, but I really don''t want to waste energy and it''s definitely a huge fire hazard too.

 

[Clio]

If I remember, I turn our outdoor lights off when I go to bed. Otherwise, they stay on all night! I need to go ahead and set the timer, because I forget most nights. (however, we only have a wreath, and it runs on batteries)

Some of our neighbors do leave their lights on all night. Doesn''t bother me - it''s festive!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I turn off ours at night because I''m paranoid of the tree going up in flames. In the morning I turn it on, and that at 9-10 pm turn it off. When I go out today, I''ll turn it off.

Does having the lights on all night really increase the power bill *that* much?

 

[KimberlyH]

When I was a kid my parents left them on all night on Christmas Eve. We aren''t hanging lights this year, but when we do we have them on a timer, on in the evening off around 10. It wouldn''t bother me if my neighbors left their lights on, but I wouldn''t want to pay their electric bill.

 

[MustangGal]

We have our exterior x-mas ligts on a timer from 6pm to 10pm. We usually forget to even turn the tree on mus nights

.

Most of my neighbors turn theirs off at some point during the night, but I noticed a few on this morning. Our old next door neighbor used to forget to turn off her light ouside the side acess door to her garage. It was positioned just right that it would shine through the living room window, through our hallway, into the bedroom door and directly where I put my head on my side of the bed. It got really annoying!

 

[D&T]

I have 4 set on timers that goes off at about midnight and turns on for about an hour in the morning for my kids and then goes off by 7am, turns back on at 5pm and starts the cycle again

.

 

[janinegirly]

I think timers that shut lights off at midnight are a great idea. These particular neighbors have timers but they go off randomly. Sometimes they forget to set them and front light (I call it the "spotlight") shines into our house all night. The Xmas lights...on all night for no good reason.

My annoyance is partially due to the general attitude of these neighbors--throw their leaves right on the property line, put their sprinklers over the property line, landscaping that pushes out obnoxiously,...I could go on and on. We are putting a fence up once our expansion is complete.

In any case seems like everyone here is very conscientious with lights and most shut them down by midnight except maybe Xmas Eve.

 

[elrohwen]

I always unplug my undoor lights when I go to bed.

I don''t really have any outdoor lights, but growing up my dad always had a timer thing. So they would go on around 4:30pm and turn off around 11pm. No sense in wasting electricity!

Also, lots of lights on your house can be very annoying to neighbors. A house near my parents goes crazy every year for Christmas and the neighbors complained when they left lights on all night (this house is in the center of a circular street, so there were a lot of people for them to annoy!). So even they started turning them off around midnight.
Crazy Lit Up Christmas House

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

OMG it looks like Rudolph threw up all over that house and yard!


El-love the bunny. He looks very chic in his seasonal gear.

 

[Rachel9]

We have timers, outdoor 5-10pm indoor 3-7pm
Wow, that's one crazy house

 

[soocool]

All our Xmas lights are on timers. Outside from dusk to 10pm. Indoor tree from 6pm to 9pm.

There are some people in our neighborhood who have candles in their windows on all day year round.

 

[Mara]

we turn off the lights in the house before bed, but for xmas we usually leave our outside lights on a timer til like 11:30pm or something. it is also a pet peeve of mine to have random non-necessary lights on in the house...such a waste of energy (and money!)

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 12/7/2009 2:03:17 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
OMG it looks like Rudolph threw up all over that house and yard!


El-love the bunny. He looks very chic in his seasonal gear.

Haha, thanks. Otto wouldn''t actually let me put a santa hat on him, so I resorted to photoshop

And yes, that house is totally ridiculous. It''s on the street next to my parents, and throughout the winter there is a long line of cars entering that street and driving around the house. It''s especially fun when people miss the right street and turn around in my parents'' driveway

My parents live close enough ... I feel so bad for their next door neighbors! The house is so well known in Pittsburgh now that I can often tell people where my parents live just by saying it''s near that "crazy lit up Christmas house."


SDL, that''s crazy that you have a whole street of these houses! The house I posted takes donations every year, and I have a feeling that some part of that goes towards their electric bill

I''d much prefer if they sold something yummy

Oh yeah, they also blast Christmas music. And put lights all over a couple of Corvettes in the driveway

 

[elrohwen]

I couldn't resist posting this picture of the crazy house that I just found on my computer (taken by my dad). Sorry for the threadjack!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 12/7/2009 4:13:47 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Its an entire neighborhood development!! There are probably 100 houses most of which are decorated like this. Its magical.. I would LOVE to see this house in person. Its soooo my cup of Christmas tea! lol

Wow. Do they interview new home owners and ask if they''ll be willing to keep up the decorating standards? Haha. I still think it''s awesome that they sell yummy food and hot drinks. I would totally buy baked goods while driving through.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

My neighbors hooked up a nativity scene with 3-4'' tall plastic characters w/baby jesus, Mary, lambs, etc. They kept the things lit up all night. . . I SOOOOO want to go over and rearrange it or do something funny to it. lol Tape fake mustaches on all the characters. My DH doesn''t approve of the idea!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 12/7/2009 4:22:35 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 12/7/2009 4:13:47 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Its an entire neighborhood development!! There are probably 100 houses most of which are decorated like this. Its magical.. I would LOVE to see this house in person. Its soooo my cup of Christmas tea! lol

Wow. Do they interview new home owners and ask if they''ll be willing to keep up the decorating standards? Haha. I still think it''s awesome that they sell yummy food and hot drinks. I would totally buy baked goods while driving through.

There IS a neighborhood like that here in the Seattle area where when you buy a home on that street, you have to decorate your house every year. I''ve really been wanting to go there. . .hopefully this year.

 

[diamondringlover]

No, I dont leave them on all night.

 

[princesss]

Date: 12/7/2009 4:22:35 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 12/7/2009 4:13:47 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Its an entire neighborhood development!! There are probably 100 houses most of which are decorated like this. Its magical.. I would LOVE to see this house in person. Its soooo my cup of Christmas tea! lol

Wow. Do they interview new home owners and ask if they''ll be willing to keep up the decorating standards? Haha. I still think it''s awesome that they sell yummy food and hot drinks. I would totally buy baked goods while driving through.

There''s a neighbourhood near my BF''s parents'' house that does this. It''s kind of secluded, so there''s nobody outside of their neighbourhood to annoy with the lights, and they string them up not just on the houses, but through the trees and you drive through in your car. It''s like the woods dressed up for Christmas! I love it. At the end they have a jar for donations, so you just drop off a dollar or two and you get all the Christmas lights you can handle!

 

[appletini]

Our outdoor lights are plugged into a timer that can be set for dusk +4, 6, or 8 hours or continuous. We ours set for 6 hours so they stay on until about midnight.

And we upgraded to the LED outdoor lights this year, and took advantage of the home depot light recyling program so that should be a big help for the electric bill.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 12/7/2009 5:37:30 PM
Author: MC
My neighbors hooked up a nativity scene with 3-4'' tall plastic characters w/baby jesus, Mary, lambs, etc. They kept the things lit up all night. . . I SOOOOO want to go over and rearrange it or do something funny to it. lol Tape fake mustaches on all the characters. My DH doesn''t approve of the idea!

Well, I totally approve of the idea! Mustaches would be funny and definitely not mean or anything. Do it!!!

 

[steph72276]

Nope, we turn ours off before bed every night. No sense in keeping them on since no one is up (at least not kids) at that time of the night and it is a waste of energy.

 

[packrat]

We unplug everything at night. I don''t think the little bit we have would run up a tremendous bill or anything, I have an unhealthy obsession w/fire starting in my house and am concerned that anything might start one.

 

[bebe]

We have timers on our outdoor lights. But this past Friday when we (Houston, Tx) had the freak snow, I turned the lights on mid - day and they have
been on since. Guess I''d best turn them off and let the timers take over.

We also have timers on the indoor trees, the LR mantle and the DR lights. Makes it so much easier than running around turning off and unplugging lights.

 

[crown1]

Date: 12/7/2009 5:37:30 PM
Author: MC
My neighbors hooked up a nativity scene with 3-4'' tall plastic characters w/baby jesus, Mary, lambs, etc. They kept the things lit up all night. . . I SOOOOO want to go over and rearrange it or do something funny to it. lol Tape fake mustaches on all the characters. My DH doesn''t approve of the idea!

listen to the dh on this one.